| 15 cm SK L/45 | |
|---|---|
 Gun salvaged from SMS Bremse, at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre, Hoy, Orkney | |
| Type |
naval gun railroad gun coast defense gun |
| Place of origin | German Empire |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1908—1945 |
| Used by |
 Germany |
| Wars | World War I, World War II |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Krupp |
| Designed | 1906—08 |
| Manufacturer | Krupp |
| Specifications | |
| Barrel length | 6.71 metres (20 ft) |
|
| |
| Shell | separate-loading, case charge |
| Caliber | 149.1 millimetres (5.87 in) |
| Breech | horizontal sliding-wedge |
| Recoil | hydro-spring |
| Muzzle velocity | 840 metres per second (2,800 ft/s) |
The 15 cm SK L/45[Note 1] was a German naval gun used in World War I and World War II.
[]
This gun was fitted as the casemate-mounted secondary armament in all Imperial German dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers, the armored cruiser SMS Blücher and as primary armament in the Pillau, Wiesbaden, Königsberg, Cöln and the Brummer-class cruisers. After World War I it was fitted to the light cruiser Emden.
| Type of Mount | Designation | Weight | Elevation | Range (during World War I) | Ship classes |
| Single pedestal mounts in casemates | MPL C/06 | 15,770 kilograms (34,770 lb) | -7° to +20° | 14,900 metres (16,300 yd) | Nassau, Helgoland, Kaiser, von der Tann, Moltke, Blücher |
| MPL C/06.11 | 16,533 kilograms (36,449 lb) | -10° to +19° | 13,500 metres (14,800 yd) | König, Seydlitz, Derfflinger | |
| MPL C/13 | 17,950 kilograms (39,570 lb) | -8.5° to +19 | 13,500 metres (14,800 yd) | Bayern, Hindenburg, Mackensen | |
| MPL C/13 mod | 18,350 kilograms (40,450 lb) | -8.5° to +22 | 15,800 metres (17,300 yd) | Wartime modification to MPL C/13 | |
| Single pedestal mounts in open half-shields | MPL C/14 | 16,185 kilograms (35,682 lb) | -10° to +22° | 15,800 metres (17,300 yd) | Wiesbaden, Königsberg II |
| MPL C/16 | 17,116 kilograms (37,734 lb) | -10° to +27° | 16,800 metres (18,400 yd) | Cöln II, Emden | |
| MPL C/16 mod | -10° to +30 | 17,600 metres (19,200 yd) | wartime modification to MPL C/16 |
Ammunition[]
It used 45.3 kilograms (100 lb) 15 cm Spgr L/4.1 HE shells with a bursting charge weight between 3.9 kilograms (8.6 lb) and 4.09 kilograms (9.0 lb), depending on how the shell was fuzed.
Coast Defense Gun[]
The same gun was used for coast defense duties in concrete emplacements after World War I. One example was 3./Marine-Artillerie Abteilung 604 ("3rd Battery of Naval Artillery Battalion 604") in Jersey.[2] They show it using 44 kilograms (97 lb) shells with a range of 18,000 metres (20,000 yd)
Railroad Gun[]
It was also used as a railroad gun during World War I.
Weapons of comparable role, performance and era[]
- BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun British equivalent
Footnotes[]
- Notes
- ↑ SK - Schnelladekanone (quick loading cannon); L - Länge in Kaliber (length in caliber)
- Citations
References[]
- Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1979). Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939–1945. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-15090-3.
External links[]
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